


A Barton's Revenge

by AL78



Category: Emmerdale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-04-29 19:02:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14479155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AL78/pseuds/AL78
Summary: Ross is in a dark place in the wake of his acid attack, he's pushing everyone who cares away. When other secrets come to life, just how will Ross react? Will it break Ross or bring out his dark side once again? Can anyone save Ross or is he beyond hope?I don't own any of these characters.





	1. Chapter 1

"Ross, you need help!" A concerned Pete bellowed as his troubled, younger brother lay motionless on the sofa trying his best to ignore him. After a few more comments, Ross finally snapped... "Pete, I'm in pain here. Just do one!" 

"Not until you promise me that you won't go after Simon!" 

"You know that I can't do that! Seriously, just go and milk a cow or whatever it is you do" Ross snapped back as he urgently got up to avoid Pete's predicted lecture.

"Go on then, run away like you always do... I won't let you do anything stupid, Ross!" Pete sighed as Ross slammed the door behind him. There was just no getting through to Ross. 

After escaping Pete's bleating, Ross didn't really know where to go. Since the acid attack, he hated being out in public, he was so used to being the cocky bloke who walking around not giving a stuff about what anyone thought of him. However, thing's had changed massively ever since, the cocky bloke was gone, he was at his most vulnerable and it scared the life out of him. As a coping mechanism for both his physical and physiological pain, Ross had turned to painkillers which had led to a terrifying addiction. He was trying his hardest to fight the urge for Moses' sake but for how long remained to be seen...

One source of comfort for Ross, though, was his newly formed friendship with Rebecca. They'd both been though traumatic times, and that really was the foundation of the friendship. Ross' instinct was to pay Rebecca a visit but luckily for him, he'd spotted Rebecca in the park with Seb. He sheepishly made his way over to join them, dressed in his black hoodie which he'd become quite attached to since his attack. 

"Mind if I join you?" Ross smiled as he approached the swings, almost feeling awkward as though he was intruding. 

"Of-course not... Look, Seb, Ross has come to give you a push!" Rebecca cheekily gestured, much to Ross' amusement

"So first you make me watch Real Hairdressers and now I have to push your kid on a swing? The thing's I do for you, ey?"

"Oi, don't you even go there! You love that show as much as I do!" she laughed as Ross pulled funny faces at Seb. That's the one thing Rebecca had always liked about Ross, even during his worst days, he'd always been surprisingly good with kids.

"Let's just keep that secret under wraps, ey? I've got a reputation to protect" 

"Yep... You're all about the secrets aren't you, Ross?" Rebecca said to Ross in an unusually cold manor which confused Ross

"You what?"

"Why didn't you tell me about the painkillers? I thought we were friends?" 

"We are... I just... I" Ross was struggling to finish the sentence off, he was tired of looking weak and vulnerable but Rebecca was determined to get the truth out of him.

"Go on! You can tell me, Ross!"

"You're pretty much the only person who hasn't treated me like I'm made of glass since what happened" Ross replied as his barriers began to fall

"So why couldn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew I'd look even more pathetic! A druggie as well as a freak-show...Who'd wanna be mates with that?" Ross muttered

"You're neither of those things, Ross! It's not too late to beat this. I can help if you let me." Rebecca looked deep into Ross' dark brown eyes, the eye's that had previously been so full of mischief, now all she could see was pain. This was a side to Ross that Rebecca hadn't seen before; she could see that Ross wasn't just the thug that her sister warned her about. 

"Don't do that!" Ross said with a stern look

“Don’t do what?”

“Just forget about it! Ross bellowed as he stormed off in his usual fashion, much to Rebecca’s surprise. He just wanted things to go back to normal, he wanted to be the old Ross who didn’t care about what people though, the person who lived every day as though it was his left, the real Ross. But could anyone bring him back?


	2. "Be the old Ross for me"

Painkillers... that’s all Ross had on his mind, he was trying his best but the urge was becoming greater by the day. Despite his anxiety and desperateness, Ross had still been convinced by Pete and Rhona to join them for a drink at the pub. He had secretly been hoping that Rebecca would be on shift so he could apologise for his outburst the other day.In truth she was pretty much one of the few mate's that Ross had left

"Two pint's and a white whine please, Rebecca" Pete leaned on the bar as Rebecca''s eye's and attention immediately drifted to Ross.

"Calmed down yet then?"

"Just get me a pint, will ya?" 

"That's his way of saying sorry... I think" Rhona added as Pete looked on in amusement

"That's the best I'm gonna get from him, isn't it?"

"Erm, I am here, you know?"

"Unfortunately so" Rebecca whispered underneath her breath which didn't go unnoticed

“I heard that!”

“You were meant to!” Rebecca quickly bit back, to Ross’ satisfaction

“Get a room, you two!” Pete joked, noticing the tension between them

“Been there… done that. Actually it was the bogs at the back, wasn’t it, Bex?” Ross quickly snapped, taking the battle of wits way too far…

“Wow… You know what? I actually thought you’d grown up. How wrong was I?” Rebecca stormed off from behind the bar instantly regretting his vile words.

This was typical of Ross, he’s set out to apologise but only made thing’s worse due to his fear of looking weak and vulnerable. Luckily, Pete and Rhona were on hand to let him know how appallingly he’d behaved. They also couldn’t help but notice a certain spark between Ross and Bex, something they then went on to tease Ross about before he finally went off in an attempt to make an amends with Rebecca.

 

“Please just hear me out” Ross practically begged as Rebecca began to shut the door in his face, stopping solely due to the look of desperation in Ross’ eyes.

“You’ve got two minutes” A fierce looking Rebecca opened the door as Ross sheepishly walked in not knowing what he was going to say or do to make up for his stupidity.

“So… are you actually going to say anything, or are you here purely just to waste my time?” An increasingly impatient Rebecca continued to berate Ross as he stood nervously.

“What I said in the pub… it was just me being stupid. I’m sorry!” Ross eventually replied, much to Rebecca’s shock, she could now see just how vulnerable Ross was. The once cocky thug who swaggered his way through life was disappearing more and more by the day.

“Wow... did I honestly just hear Ross Barton apologise?”

“Maybe I have grown up after all” Ross smugly reminded Rebecca of her earlier comment.

“Well I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s certainly progress… why do you do that, though?” Rebecca vaguely pondered, panicking Ross into the thought that the conversation was about to get deep.

“Do what? Apologise? Maybe because I’m such a great guy” Ross winked which managed to infuriate and amuse Rebecca simultaneously, in his desperate attempt to change the topic of conversation

“Very funny… you know what I mean, though! You can’t keep pushing people away!”

“I don’t mean to… it’s just the way I am. The way I’ve always been…” 

The mood in the room was strange, up until a few day’s ago, Ross and Bex were simply just good friends but this felt like something more. Rebecca wondered just why she cared about Ross so much, especially after their past fling which ended so badly. She just saw a different side to him, a person worth the effort and drama.

“You can talk to me about it? To be honest, I could really do with the company anyway!” Rebecca’s warm smile was met by a longingly glare from Ross’ dark brown eye’s. “Why is she the only one who seems to get me?” Ross thought to himself.

“You’ve got your own problems, you don’t need to hear about mine as well” Ross muttered as he tried his best to play thing’s cool.

“I know that I don’t need to, Ross… but I want to. I care…” 

Ross and Rebecca both began to walk forward… very slowly closing the distance between them, neither of them had seen this coming but it just felt right. Ross had thought that because of his scars, no woman could possibly look at him in that way again, yet Rebecca was…

Normally in this situation, Ross would’ve made the first move, he used to be so sure of himself but this was very different. He was anxious, he wanted to kiss Rebecca so badly, but he just didn’t have the confidence… he couldn’t handle anymore rejection.

“No… Bex, I can’t… I just can’t” Ross was almost crying, as Bex softly ran her hands over his scars, letting him know that there wasn’t anything to be afraid of… that she could past them.

“Be the old Ross for me…” Rebecca seductively whispered as she eventually went for the kiss, knowing that Ross wanted her just as much as she wanted him.

However, what followed left both of them utterly shattered. It was all to much for Ross, their lips touched and it felt magical, just for a brief second Ross felt like the real him again, and that was due to Rebecca. Like everything else in Ross’ life, though, it didn’t last. He quickly pulled away and ran out leaving Rebecca distraught; it finally dawned on both Ross and Rebecca just how close to the brink he was.


End file.
